Musings On A Monday

Some members of the Muslim community in Scotland took offense to the poster below.



In what can only be viewed as over sensitivity without consultation it is being proposed that there be ...

Canine footwear for police dogs entering Muslim homes?
By Venkata VemuriLondon | July 06, 2008 12:05:06 PM IST

Police sniffer dogs may have to cover their feet when entering Muslim homes in order not to cause offense.

Efforts by security agencies to respect Muslim sensibilities in crime probes has come down to this - canine footwear. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives, reports The Sunday Times.

The guidelines, to be published this year, originally designed to cover mosques will now apply to other buildings, including homes.

Where Muslims object, officers will be obliged to use sniffer dogs only in exceptional cases. Where dogs are used, they will have to wear bootees with rubber soles.

The new rule has its roots in a crime prevention poster of the Tayside Police of Dundee in Scotland featuring a german shepherd puppy. A Muslim councillor objected to the poster, saying some of his brethren may find it objectionable on the ground that dogs are unclean.

However, Muslims say it is stretching things too far. One of Britain's leading Imams, Ibrahim Mogra, says: "In Islamic law the dog is not regarded as impure, only its saliva is. Most Islamic schools of law agree on that. If security measures require to send a dog into a house, then it has to be done. I think Acpo needs to consult better and more widely."

John Midgley, co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, says: "The police are in effect being overly sensitive to potential criminals and not being sensitive enough to the public at large who need to be protected. These sort of things have a counter-productive effect because they cause huge friction between different communities."

Dog lovers are not far behind lampooning the police. Caroline Kisko, of the Kennel Club, says: "We would not condone any attempt to make search dogs wear special clothing, which could cause them distress."

Police dogs at present are issued with footwear only at scenes of explosions to prevent them injuring their paws on broken glass.

Source:

In an effort to provide a little education I offer the following from the website
Islamic Concern.com.

Read: haraam = forbidden.
1. It is NOT haraam to own a dog, though it is not hygienic to keep a dog in the house.

2. It is NOT haraam to touch a dog or any other animal. If the saliva of a dog touches you or any part of your clothing, then it is required of you to wash the body part touched and the item of clothing touched by the dog’s mouth or snout.

3. It is incumbent upon all Muslims who own animals, whether for farming or work purposes or as pets, to provide adequate shelter, food, water, and, when needed, veterinary care for their animals. Arrangements must be made, if one is going to be away from home, to have one’s animals taken care of as well.

4. It is haraam to keep a dog or any other animal on a short lead for long periods without food, water, and shelter. Dogs need exercise and are social creatures who form organized “family” structures in nature. Dog owners therefore need to spend time daily with their dogs.

5. It is cruel, and therefore haraam, to keep any animal in a cage so small that it cannot behave in a natural way.

6. Fireworks cause untold suffering to most domestic animals because of their acute sense of hearing.

7. It is haraam to participate in any blood “sport,” like dog fighting and trophy hunting.

I find number six hits home for me. Our mutt Skeeter was freaked out over the recent weekend by fireworks. Even though they were at a great distance both July 1st and 4th were a stress for her.